12-Month Professional Diploma Program
CIDF (Creative Intelligence & Digital Futures) is a 12-month, industry-aligned, AI-native diploma program designed to train the next generation of:
Unlike traditional media, animation, or design programs, CIDF is built entirely around a real production pipeline, the GCGPS AI+CG Production Pipeline, integrating:
CIDF is not a software-training course. It is a complete creative production system education, mirroring how real studios already operate—and how they will operate in the AI era.
CIDF is for students who want to work at the intersection of creativity, AI, and technology, including:
Importantly:
No prior AI experience is required; no prior 3D or coding background is mandatory; students from art, design, media, computer science, or mixed backgrounds are fully supported.
The program is structured so that all students reach a shared professional baseline, regardless of where they start.
Traditional programs often:
CIDF is different because it:
In short:
You don't "learn Blender".You learn Blender inside ACES → OCIO → GCGPS → AIA → PPS.
This makes CIDF graduates pipeline-ready from day one, which is extremely rare in education today.
The Zheng He Project is a real, ongoing, international transmedia IP project, not a classroom exercise or fictional case study. It includes:
CIDF is deliberately designed around this level of real-world complexity. In simple terms: CIDF is built to train students for projects like Zheng He—not hypothetical student assignments. The Zheng He Project functions as a "living curriculum", continuously shaping how AI, tools, pipelines, and storytelling are taught.
Yes. Students genuinely work on the live project.
However, participation is:
Students do not enter core production immediately. Instead, the project is:
Broken into teaching-safe components; integrated gradually across the 12-month program; embedded in coursework, studio simulations, and graduation projects.
CIDF follows five principles:
This ensures authentic experience without compromising production quality.
Students:
Mindset: "What I learn now will eventually exist inside a real world."
Students contribute to:
Through studio simulations, they:
Realization: "My work is not just for grading—others may build on it."
Students engage in:
Key insight: Film, XR, games, AI, and web tools belong in one connected system, not separate disciplines.
The Zheng He Project becomes:
Students may work on:
They operate under:
Graduates leave with industry-usable work, not "student-only projects."
No. The program is designed to prevent this.
CIDF uses:
In practice:
Students are never treated as free labor, but excellent students are clearly recognized.
Across four phases, students learn:
The goal is not software proficiency - but system-level creative capability.
CIDF uses a dual-language education model:
This ensures:
This mirrors how international creative and technology studios actually operate.
Assessment is project-based and portfolio-driven, including:
There is no single exam that defines success. What matters is your ability to deliver real work in real pipelines.
Graduates typically complete:
This portfolio is comparable to 1–2 years of junior studio experience.
Graduates move into roles such as:
They enter studios, XR labs, AI companies, and creative-tech startups worldwide.
Because:
Future creative professionals are not defined by the tools they know, but by the value they can create inside real systems. The Zheng He Project puts CIDF students into these systems from day one.
If you want, I can next:
CIDF is intensive by design, but it is also progressively structured. The program does not assume prior AI, 3D, or pipeline experience; workload increases gradually across phases; early months focus on foundation and confidence-building; later months focus on integration and production.
You are never expected to "know everything at once." Instead, CIDF trains you to learn continuously, which reflects real industry conditions. Think of CIDF as professional training, not traditional classroom study.
Struggling is expected, not penalized. CIDF is built on the idea that:
No one excels at everything; creative production is collaborative; growth matters more than perfection.
Support mechanisms include:
CIDF does not train "solo geniuses". It trains reliable, adaptable creative professionals.
Collaboration is core, not optional. Students learn:
Studio Simulation modules deliberately:
Assign roles; rotate responsibilities; simulate real production pressure. You don't just learn what to make - you learn how to work with others to make it.
Failure is treated as data, not as weakness. CIDF explicitly teaches:
Iteration; debugging; version control; recovery workflows; pipeline resilience.
Because students work inside governed pipelines: Mistakes are contained; nothing "breaks everything"; learning happens safely.
In the creative industry, failure is inevitable. CIDF teaches you how to recover professionally, which is far more valuable than avoiding mistakes.
Assessment is designed to be transparent and balanced. CIDF evaluates:
Team projects include:
Role definition; contribution tracking; peer and instructor review; clear rubrics. You are not graded simply on "team success," but on your real contribution inside the system.
CIDF is designed to be accessible while still industry-grade. Core tools are open-source (Blender, Godot, Krita, Django); AI workflows may run on: Institutional servers; shared GPU resources; optimized local setups (where applicable).
You are not required to own high-end hardware at the start. CIDF teaches pipeline thinking, not dependency on expensive personal equipment.
AI responsibility is built into the curriculum, not added later. Students learn:Responsible AI usage; dataset awareness; cultural bias control; canon and historical accuracy; governance through AIA and metadata lineage.
The Zheng He Project especially reinforces:
Cultural respect; narrative integrity; ethical representation. CIDF trains AI-literate creators, not careless AI users.
Yes. CIDF actively supports entrepreneurship.
The program prepares you to:
Join studios; build teams; launch independent projects; create new creative-tech ventures.
CIDF does not train employees only — it trains builders and leaders.
CIDF is designed as a living system, not a fixed syllabus. Because: Teaching materials are in English; tools are open-source; pipelines are modular.
The program can: Integrate new AI models; update workflows; adjust assignments; evolve alongside the industry.
You learn how to adapt, not just how to use today's tools.
The most important traits are:
You do not need to be: A perfect artist; a strong programmer; an AI expert on day one. You need to be open to becoming hybrid.
Success means you can:
CIDF success is not a grade. It is professional readiness.
CIDF prepares you for a future where:
In that future, the most valuable people are those who can:
Think creatively, work systematically, collaborate ethically, and adaptcontinuously.
That is exactly what CIDF is designed to do.
Details can be found in the following PDF files: